The media publishes reports that your home has been burglarized several times in the past and

that you've been critical of local police for their lack

of effort in apprehending the suspects.

After the last break-in, you told your neighbor that you would be prepared next time.

The District Attorney uses this to allege

that you were lying in wait for the burglars.

A few months later, you go to trial.

The charges haven't been reduced,

as your lawyer had so confidently predicted.

When you take the stand, your anger at

the injustice of it all works against you..

Prosecutors paint a picture of you

as a mean, vengeful man.

It doesn't take long for the jury to convict you of all charges.

The judge sentences you to life in prison.

This case really happened.

On August 22, 1999, Tony Martin of Emneth, Norfolk , England , killed one burglar and wounded a second.

In April, 2000, he was convicted and is now serving a life term..

How did it become a crime to defend one's own life in the once great British Empire ?

It started with the Pistols Act of 1903.

This seemingly reasonable law forbade selling pistols to minors or felons and

established that handgun sales were to be made only to those who had a license.

The Firearms Act of 1920 expanded licensing to include not only handguns but all firearms except shotguns..

Later laws passed in 1953 and 1967 outlawed the carrying of any weapon by private citizens and

mandated the registration of all shotguns.

Momentum for total handgun confiscation began in earnest after the Hungerford mass shooting in 1987.

Michael Ryan, a mentally disturbed man with a Kalashnikov rifle, walked down the street shooting everyone he saw.When the smoke cleared, 17 people were dead.

The British public, already de-sensitized by eighty years of "gun control", demanded even tougher restrictions.

(The seizure of all privately owned handguns was the objective even though Ryan used a rifle.)

Nine years later, at Dunblane , Scotland ,

Thomas Hamilton used a semi-automatic weapon to murder 16 children and a teacher at a public school.

For many years, the media had portrayed all gun owners as mentally unstable, or worse, criminals.

Now the press had a real kook with which to beat up law-abiding gun owners.

Day after day, week after week, the media gave up all pretense of objectivity and demanded a total ban on all handguns.

The Dunblane Inquiry, a few months later, sealed the fate of the few sidearm's

still owned by private citizens.

During the years in which the British government incrementally took away most gun rights,

the notion that a citizen had the right to armed self-defense came to be seen as vigilantism.

Authorities refused to grant gun licenses to people who were threatened,

claiming that self-defense was no longer considered a reason to own a gun.

Citizens who shot burglars or robbers or rapists were charged while the real criminals were released.

Indeed, after the Martin shooting, a police spokesman was quoted as saying,

"We cannot have people take the law into their own hands."

All of Tony Martin's neighbors had been robbed numerous times, and several elderly people were severely injured in beatings by young thugs who had no fear of the consequences. Martin himself, a collector of antiques, had seen most of his collection trashed or stolen by burglars.

When the Dunblane Inquiry ended, citizens who owned handguns were given three months to turn them over to local authorities.

Being good British subjects, most people obeyed the law. The few who didn't were visited by police and threatened with ten-year prison sentences if they didn't comply.

Police later bragged that they'd taken nearly 200,000 handguns from private citizens.

How did the authorities know who had handguns?The guns had been registered and licensed.Kind of like cars. Sound familiar?

WAKE UP AMERICA ;

THIS IS WHY OUR FOUNDING FATHERS PUT THE SECOND AMENDMENT IN OUR CONSTITUTION.

"...It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."--Samuel Adams

You had better wake up, because Obama is doing this very same thing, over here, if he can get it done.

And there are stupid people in congress and on the street that will go right along with him.

Meanwhile, here in the states, over 17,000 Men Women and CHILDREN are killed every year, from Drunk Driving Crashes. Yet you don't hear anyone wanting to ban alcohol, do you? And how many others are crippled for life? Living at Taxpayers expense after not ever being able to function normally again? Where's the outrage? Do you see any legislation to stop this needless slaughter? No! Why not?

Isn't this important? Or is getting drunk and driving somehow more acceptable than having the ability to defend ourselves? You tell me!

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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

he served 3 years. got out on parole. could have been out earlier but the parole board thought the might be a risk to society.

i remember that case. i remember how appalled my sister was that someone could go to jail for protecting their own home. that was her introduction to the British attitude toward guns....although she said that the farmer had a lot of support from the general population.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

I'm no gun control freak...but how would this case be handled in the US, today? The most important missing part of the story is that he _did_ have a shotgun certificate...but it had been taken away in '94 (5 years before) because he "shot a hole" in the back of a vehicle he caught stealing apples.So, what happens in the US if you've had your permits revoked for violations, and 5 years later you shoot two people in your home with an unregistered weapon you claim to have "found"?

The most important missing part of the story is that he _did_ have a shotgun certificate...but it had been taken away in '94 (5 years before) because he "shot a hole" in the back of a vehicle he caught stealing apples.So, what happens in the US if you've had your permits revoked for violations, and 5 years later you shoot two people in your home with an unregistered weapon you claim to have "found"?

maybe we don't want to get to the point where we find out?

certificates, permits, revocations.....seems like a lot of infringement.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

To commit a breach or infraction of; violate or transgress, to encroach or trespass.

Thank you Allenf. For quite so time now, we have been allowing politicians to pick and chose which parts of the constitution they want to follow. We have a man leading our country who has said, "there are parts of the constitution which need to be changed!". (this was uttered before becoming president. I saw the video, he said it. Do your own research.) Its not just him. Its republicans and democrats. The way to beat these people, is to throw them out every time they violate their oath. We only support those who follow the constitution. Our founding fathers gave us this document. It has guided us to great success. Over two hundred years later, its still the truth. If a politician passes a law, which violates my rights, I will refuse to just go along. I will work to regain those rights.

and, occasionally the constitution does need to be changed. we have a way to do that. rather than just ignore the law, change it if you feel that it is important enough to make that effort.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

There is a big difference in saying John Doe is not allowed to own a gun, and saying a gun is not allowed to be owned by any citizen.

Permit people, not guns.

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"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

I find it very hard to worry much about a fleeing thief getting holes in his vehicle. In a sane world that would just help the police find and punish the perpetrator. I don't know if I will ever be castrated enough not to protect my property. But a lot of folks have been.

I find it very hard to worry much about a fleeing thief getting holes in his vehicle. In a sane world that would just help the police find and punish the perpetrator. I don't know if I will ever be castrated enough not to protect my property. But a lot of folks have been.

At one time we had the "fleeing felon law". It was meant to protect the public from dangerous criminals. Now because the hands of the police have been tied, we have innocent people losing life and limb. We see this in the well covered chases in L.A.

When I hear " gun control" from the mouth of a politician, I have to wonder what they really want to control.

I had this bumper sticker on the back of my ol' Cherokee until it cracked and peeled off. Looks like I need to get another one for my Wrangler...

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www.beeweather.comAmerican blood spilled to protect the freedom and peace of people all over the world. 320,000 USA casualties in WWI, 1,076,000 USA casualties in WWII, 128,000 USA casualties in the Korean War, 211,000 casualties in the Vietnam "conflict", 57,000 USA casualties in "War on Terror". Benghazi, Libya, 13 USA casualties. These figures don't include 70,000 MIA. But, the leaders of one political party of the United States of America continue to make the statement..."What difference does it make?".

"We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism."..."The press is our chief ideological weapon." - Nikita Khrushchev

i picked this link because it's the pro-government link. you can find all the others on your own :-D

and as the last re-posted comment in the article says, you don't use hollow points for target practice....unless you are just wasting my money!

it would be interesting to know how much of what has been purchased in the past by other admins? presumably the same re-certification requirements existed in the past? maybe some enterprising body can find that info. i have a wedding to attend today.....

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

i picked this link because it's the pro-government link. you can find all the others on your own :-D

and as the last re-posted comment in the article says, you don't use hollow points for target practice....unless you are just wasting my money!

it would be interesting to know how much of what has been purchased in the past by other admins? presumably the same re-certification requirements existed in the past? maybe some enterprising body can find that info. i have a wedding to attend today.....

I can tell you from first hand experience, police do use hollow points for target practice. Same ammunition used in service.

in all my years in the service i never used hollow points for quals or fam fire.

not to say that no one does it, but the cost difference between target rounds and hollow points is significant.

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.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....